There are various reasons one might want to understand the nature of a water molecule. For one, we are mostly made of water and so, just as one would want to understand the nature of their own DNA, it also makes since to understand the workings of a water molecule. Another reason is that water is everywhere. After molecular hydrogen and carbon monoxide, water is the most abundant molecule in the universe, and it is also the most abundant solid substance in space.

There is a simple molecular structure to water. It is comprised of one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms. The hydrogen atoms are bonded to the oxygen by sharing a pair of electrons. Because oxygen also holds two unshared pairs of electrons, there are a total of 4 pairs of electrons that surround the oxygen atom. Because oxygen has a higher electonegativity than hydrogen, the side of the molecule with oxygen atom has a partial negative charge. The charge difference distinguishes the oxygen as a dipole, meaning two poles. So the oxygen end is partially negative, while the hydrogen end is partially positive, and this causes the water molecules to be attracted to each other.

Without getting into the physics of why, but it’s based on the just described information, water has a high melting and boiling point temperature because more energy is required to break the hydrogen bonds between molecules. There is also a sufficient amount of bonding between water molecules to give liquid water a large specific heat capacity, making it a good heat storage medium, such as coolants, and is also a good heat shield.

Other unique properties are a result of hydrogen bonds. For example, because hydrogen bonds hold water molecules farther apart in a solid than in a liquid state, where there is one less hydrogen bond per molecule, ice can float.

Water also has other properties that are only now beginning to be understood. One of these is ‘memory’. Water seems to be able to retain some properties of materials that were once dissolved in it, even after they have been mostly removed. This is how homeopathic medicine works. Colloidal Silver Solution is a prime example. It is one of the most effective antibiotics available, so much so that it is used by the US Military and Diplomatic personnel when they go overseas. Nevertheless, as with all other homeopathic remedies, it is 99.9999% water. In fact, the more dilute a solution is, the more powerful its effect.

Another good example is ‘structured water’. This simulates the way nature ‘energizes’ water, and makes it easier for our bodies to use. Research is currently under way to discover how we can use these properties better. There are already products on the market that utilize these properties.

The basic structure of water makes it truly a marvel of nature, and the reason why Earth, of all the other planets we know of, has life as we know it.